Japan in Paris. The former house of Kenzo Takada, legendary couturier of the eponymous brand, is on sale. Located in the heart of Paris, in the heart of the 11th arrondissement, not far from the Place de la Bastille, the house is hidden in the courtyard of an eighteenth-century residential building. Away from prying eyes. A real "refuge", according to Christie's International Real Estate, the real estate agency that takes care of the sale. The couturier, who died in 2020 from Covid-19, had settled in the City of Light in the 1960s, before reaping a notable success with his collections.
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Bamboo, juniper, pink cherry trees
Built in 1993, it will be redeveloped into a Japanese haven by Kengo Kuma in 2018. The Japanese architect who has just delivered the new Strasbourg Exhibition Centre has brilliantly taken up the mission: to make these 1280 square meters a place where light comes and goes, in a serene atmosphere. The garden, which encircles the house with its bamboos, junipers, pink cherry trees, and other plum red maples, lichens and mosses, participates fully in this feeling of peace. This is what immediately seduced the architect: "What impressed me the most was this Japanese garden nestled in the heart of Paris, a wonder!" he exclaimed to AD magazine in 2018. Thanks to pontoons and an intimate terrace both made of wood, the view of the pools is breathtaking: it is even possible to see koi carp swimming. "The important thing is transparency and lightness. (...) I wanted to reconnect the spaces together, from the central patio to the Japanese garden, through the new terrace and living room. I try to create depth, so that the user feels continuity. Fluidity is a very Japanese idea," Kuma said.
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"Temple"
Three floors, twenty rooms, a gym and even an elevator... If the luxurious aspect of the place is not the shadow of a doubt, this is not the most important for Kengo Kuma, who has particularly worked on the feelings that seize the visitor when he passes the doorstep. "The approach is, for me, always an important moment, because it inevitably changes the mindset of the person who enters. Like the arrival in a temple, we first pass through a kind of closed corridor, before accessing the light, in the heart of the "sanctuary"", detailed the designer. And precisely, in the entrance is anchored a sumptuous light oak staircase that leads upstairs, "inspired by chigaidanas", these "offbeat shelves" in which the Japanese exhibit their works or art objects. With in its dressing room, reception rooms, music, sports, studies, parking ... There is little doubt that the price of the villa, which can only be known on request, is abysmal.
